Wow I can relate so much to what has been discussed thusfar, I'm a girl with a keloid on her chest and it sucks. It's so conspicious and I refrain from swimming, wearing low cut tops and dating. The chest ones are stubborn. I've had smaller ones on my chest and back and after lasering, they've flattened out and started to fade. I think the sooner you treat it the more likely it'll heal. I've gotten so many steriod injections and numerous lasering sessions on my chest, but the largest keloid is still there. It's not as itchy after laser treatment but it does become very tender while it heals. I wish there was more hope out there for fixing this problem. It seems like such a toll on the psychological well being. Sometimes I'm so tired of this and wish I could just wish it all away. But of course that's not gonna happen, problems don't just magically disappear. We gotta stand and fight, 'cause this is war.

hey girl! i recently stumbled upon this site and your post.. and i just wanna say that i relate to you too, i have one smack in the middle of my chest as well, and right by my boob, it makes me so self conscious to wear anything that shows chest.. so I feel your pain. I def agree it's a mental pain as well, and I cant tell you how many times I've wished it would just disappear too.. blah!

I just did keloid/hypertrophic scar treatment yesterday. I am going to do steriod injection/5-FU injection combined with v-beam(upgraded version) can't remember the name. My doc told me i have to get treated 4to5tmes and 80-85percent improvement on my scar. Hopefully it works...my keloid/hyper scars are brused up oh yah, i heard Co2 laser deepFX helps on keloid/hyper scars also! im planning to do that later also!

I'm 23 and when i was 18 i got both my ears pierced, and everything was great. One day after labor day parade(september 09), i fell asleep with this huge earring on my left ear. Which left my ears swollen. So i figured it would go down.

Now its turned into a keloid. The size of it resembles a Marble but the keloid is behind my ear.( This whole winter i've been covering it up with a hat.) I went to go see a Dermatologist about it she said she would have to cut it off (surgical procedure) The keloid is sometimes painful during showers and very itchy 3 times a day about.

My question is since this is going to be a surgical procedure regarding my appearance. Would i let my dermatologist do the surgery or a cosmetic surgeon?

How would i find the right doctor? i live NYHow much would the procedure cost cause i dont have insurance

All info would be helpful, if you have any knowledge on picking the right doctors help me plz

I never thought that there would be a site about acne, but im glad that there is and i would like to share some information about my personal life that im sure alot of you can relate too. I myself have been an acne sufferer for the last ten years and this is my story....

I suffered with acne for a long time, it destroyed my teenage years up all until the age of 30 which i am at this moment. people close to me kept telling me that its ok to take of your shirt that no one cares.I cared thats the problem. I could never go swimming or tanning, i constantly had to make excuses why i could'nt go to the beach. It drove me into a depression. I wasn't going to give up this is what i did.

I started with taking those black and orange pills that did nothing but make me drowsy and my mouth dry.Then i tried peroxide and spectrogel, and i could go on and on. I was fed up i could't take using all these products on my skin. Someone told me about accutane, i went to the dermatologist and he said that treatment should start right away. I did one month of treatment and it did help in reducing the amount of pimples on my back and chest but it also dried my lips to a prune and thinned my hair a bit. That was it for me with accutane the results stayed.

Red bumps KELOIDS had started to form on my chest and back at the age of 22 i did not know what it was except for acne. I did go to the dermatologist and he wanted to put me back on accutane i was like no thank you. I lived with it for a while trying my own method of removal by waxing my chest and back and lots of tanning. Amazingly it got rid of a bunch on my chest almost ridding the ones on my back. Still some remained.

I had heard of the injections before but never had the guts to go through with it. I was just fed up and decided to go through with it afterall. First time was very painful, and almost dicouraged me from going back. The doctor said that it was normal because they were so hard that with a couple of treatments they will begin to soften up. I was just like whatever do it. I didn't care at this point. At 280$ a treatment 6 treatments later i was amazed at the results. It was friggin working no joke, they where getting flatter to the point where it was at the level of my skin. I stopped teatment after that because the next step was laser and at 500$ a pop i was not ready to take that step. Im at the moment, using tee tree oil after a shower because the pores are open and the tee tree oil is better absorbed. I do see results in the redness is leaving and the skin color is returning. A little sun each day is also helping in the healing proccess.

To all me people who have the same propblem please do not give up you are not alone there is ways of treating acne and keliods. As you can see i tried multiple things till i found a treatment that was right for me. Once a keloid is flattened it is alot easier to rid of them. Laser i found was to expensive for me so im trying my way first. A litlle sun tee tree oil. Flattening them is the first step.

i'm sorry! i don't have too much experience with keloids :/ i know hypertrophic scars can be treated with silicon sheets. most of the talk on this forum is for atrophic scars... as i understand it a keloid is a form of hypertropic scar. i would mention silicon sheets to the doctor but i do think steroid injections are often used to treat hypertrophic scars, although i am not sure about keloids. maybe call the local medical school and speak to the dermatology department about it. i think a doctor will be best suited to help you and your brother in this case. sorry i cannot be of more help and i hope everything works out!!!

Hi Everyone,

I found this forum while doing some research for my brother.

My brother is 17 and had very severe acne the last few years. He was on roaccutane a few times and the acne seems to be gone at last but he is left with really bad keloid scars on his back.

My mum went with him to his dermatologist last week for a checkup up. As far as I know he's been getting steroid injections into the the last few months but it has made little or no difference in my mother's opinion. I have never seen the scars myself apart from what I can see on the back of his neck.

this is affecting my brother psychologicalyl a bit as he's stopped swimming and rugby the last 2 years because of the acne and scars. Both sports he loved and was very good at but as i'm sure most of you know it can knock your confidence big time. I had acne myself in my teens too but luckily it wasn't as severe as my brother's and i was left unscarred apart from a few mild pitting ones on my face.

Anyway I've being doing some research online. So far I've learned that surgical removal would probably be a bad option as you have a high increase of them growing back. So I'm looking into other methods. I've read some threads here but not found much so far. I have read how radiotherapy and interferons can be used but it sounds like you are risking more problems with these.

So my question is, has anyone here had realyl bad keloid scars on tehir back from acne and what worked for you?

If anyone can give me links to any good information that might help my brother i would be so grateful too! I know too well how awful acne can be and i feel so sad for him that he's now left with awful scars.

Thank you
Edwina

Ok, just wanted to clear some things. Hypertrophic and Keloid scars are two different things.
Keloid
- Continually grows in the boundary and OUT of the boundary.
Keloid scars are VERY hard to treat.

On the other hand,

Hyperthropic scars
- Grows only for a year or two BUT only INSIDE the boundary of the wound.
- Hyperthropic MAY flatten overtime but takes many years.
Hyperthropic scars are WAY EASIER to treat than keloids.

does anybody still look at this? wow it feels so much better knowing im not the only one with this problem. ive had acne on my back and chest since i was 16. im 21 now and have horrific scars from acne, and keloids on my back and and chest. id say about 7 active keloids and just horrible texture of the skin. almost looks like burned flesh after its healing. i havent taken my shirt off in literally 6 years besides in the shower when noone is there. i had a girlfriend that i met right when all the acne started happening and still till this day, she is with me. weve been together since july, 6 2008. i havent had sex with her with my shirt off since we met. ;( i havent gone to a pool, beach, or any normal things my entire life. its really gona hurt me the day she finally leaves me cuz i always tell her itll get better and eventually go away. its been six years and no improvement. i was on accutane for 3 months and it comopletely put a stop to the acne, and am now stuck with scars. i have no insurance so i havent been able to go to a derm. i went to cook county hospital (chicago, IL) and really they didnt know what to do, or have never seen what i have. this is really taking a toll on my life. what has worked for you guys

Guys, try CryoShape, it supposedly works for keloids, shrinks them/makes them go away completely. They only very rarely come back, and I mean very, and after long time.

I dont have keloids myself, only few hyperthropic scars, but I read a lot, and also about this. Unfortunately Cryoshape customer support works terribly, you write them email, they reply with one sentence, without further explanation, and when you try to reply back, email is not delivered. They block your email adress or something, I guess. Even if you write new mail, it does not work.

does anybody still look at this? wow it feels so much better knowing im not the only one with this problem. ive had acne on my back and chest since i was 16. im 21 now and have horrific scars from acne, and keloids on my back and and chest. id say about 7 active keloids and just horrible texture of the skin. almost looks like burned flesh after its healing. i havent taken my shirt off in literally 6 years besides in the shower when noone is there. i had a girlfriend that i met right when all the acne started happening and still till this day, she is with me. weve been together since july, 6 2008. i havent had sex with her with my shirt off since we met. ;( i havent gone to a pool, beach, or any normal things my entire life. its really gona hurt me the day she finally leaves me cuz i always tell her itll get better and eventually go away. its been six years and no improvement. i was on accutane for 3 months and it comopletely put a stop to the acne, and am now stuck with scars. i have no insurance so i havent been able to go to a derm. i went to cook county hospital (chicago, IL) and really they didnt know what to do, or have never seen what i have. this is really taking a toll on my life. what has worked for you guys

Hey,

So it sounds like you have pitted scars on your face and keloids on your body? There's stuff you can do for sure for improvement. If the scars on your face are really severe, I would suggest laser treatment - it isn't cheap and you have to do a lot of research though (I'd suggest Fraxel). There are other options as well like dermarolling and certain chemical peels. Your options for keloids include steroid/kenalog injections, excision, and radiation in rare cases. Sometimes small keloids can be improved with silicone scar sheets. Do a lot of research on all these as scars can be difficult to treat and slow to improve. Ideally, go to a good dermatologist (again, research) or maybe a plastic surgeon and see what they suggest - sometimes there is even a free consultation.

More important than treating your keloid, I think, is addressing your psychological issues. Take a moment and think: your girlfriend has been with you for more than 5 years. Your personality is probably what she cares about the most about you - not your scars. She probably really doesn't care. I know sex puts you in a vulnerable position, but if she's comfortable enough to be naked enough around you (flaws and all - nobody and no body is perfect) then she'd probably be fine with you not wearing a shirt. Burn victims (think: J.R. Martinez) have their giant scars out where they can't hide them, and even then they can be confident with them in time - it might just take some getting used to exposing them. You could try starting out wearing a tank top or something and work your way up - maybe even eventually you could go shirtless at the beach. Just some food for thought. Best of luck to you!